In sum, participants were developing identities as students in a schooling context in which meeting academic standards and expectations of teachers required minimal engagement to achieve acceptable performance. Children were functioning effectively as "good enough students," by successfully calibrating their efforts in academic and behavioral domains to meet the low normative standards of their educational context. Findings suggest that participants' ability levels could support stronger performance, as they performed in the academically average range at what appeared to be marginal levels of effort. Also, within interpersonal and social arenas, the children's emotional intelligence and evident capacity to be engaged, motivated, observant, and persistent indicate they have important skills, which, applied to academic and conduct, carry students far in school.